Since its inception, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) has faced heavy criticism.1 Passed as comprehensive legislative response to the financial crisis of 2008, the Dodd-Frank Act expanded regulations on financial institutions. Its repeal would cause a dramatic change in the landscape of financial regulation in the United States. The…
Category: Blog Articles
SPAC: The Mechanics of a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Part III of IV)
Editor’s Note: This blog series is presented in four parts. In this third edition, the author provides a brief overview of the mechanics of a SPAC transaction. At its most basic level, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) is nothing more than a set of filings with securities regulators. The SPAC, like its…
Amazon’s Quest to Compete with Delivery Services
As delivery costs have continued to skyrocket, some companies such as Amazon, have been developing internal delivery options to compete with major delivery carries such as UPS and FedEx.1 In particular, “Amazon’s shipping costs have accelerated in recent years as sales on its site surge.”2 The primary cause of the increase in costs is “driven…
The CFPB and the DC Court of Appeals: A Rebuke and Question of Constitutionality (Part II of II)
As discussed in part one of this blog post, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia recently delivered what is perhaps the biggest setback to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to date. To review, the court essentially held the structure and independence of the Bureau to be unconstitutional in an opinion…
Surveying Untouched Legal Landscape: Does Audio Beacon Technology Violate Privacy Laws?
This blog is the second of a two-part series. In the first installment, I explained how retailers use beacon technology, and more recently, audio beacon technology, to expand communications with consumers while tailoring such communications to consumers’ surroundings.1 Despite the successes retailers have experienced as a result of the implementation of the technology, consumers have…
The Cuba Embargo and Financial Sanctions
Foreign financial institutions are reluctant to deal with the Cuban Government. The main issue at stake is the long running Cuban Embargo by the Government of the United States. In February 1962, President John F. Kennedy proclaimed an embargo on trade between the United States and Cuba, in response to certain actions taken by the…
Project Finance in Cuba: Can it be done?
In August 2016 Groupe ADP, a French airport operator, in consortium with Bouygues Bâtiment International, a French construction company, obtained the concession for the expansion and administration of the “Jose Marti International Airport” in Havana, Cuba (Havana Airport).1 This comes at a crucial time for air transportation and tourist development in the Caribbean Island. The…
What’s Next for Merchants and Consumers After the Second Circuit’s Decision in United States v. American Express?
On September 26, 2016, the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals threw out a 2015 antitrust decision against American Express Company.1 The decision is the latest development in a five-year saga between the U.S. Department of Justice and seventeen individual states against Amex for its “nondiscrimination provisions,” or NDPs, which are contractual provisions that prohibit…
Big Law Partners; De-Equitization of Partners
First to recap my prior blog post, Big Law firms are facing increased pressure from clients and the market to reign in their exorbitant costs. The traditional two-tier partnership model places an emphasis on profits per equity partner. This management structure manages the complex law firm organization as if it were still the small, collegial…
The Investment Modernization Act of 2016, Part 2 of 2
Policy Considerations And Potential Business Impact Perhaps the two most relevant provisions of the Investment Modernization Act of 2016 are the changes to restrictions on advertising in sections 2(b)(1)-(2), and the reduction in reporting requirements on the Form PF for many investment advisers in section 3(a).1 The bill passed the House on September 9, 2016.2…